


Step Into Your Power

by puck1919



Series: Step Into Your Power [2]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Ahtohallan River (Disney), Arendelle (Disney), Gen, Song: All is Found (Disney), Song: Defying Gravity (Wicked), Song: For Good (Wicked), Song: For the First Time in Forever (Disney), Song: Healing Incantation (Disney), Song: Into the Open Air (Disney/Pixar), Song: Into the Unknown (Disney), Song: Let It Go (Disney), Song: Queen of Mean (Disney), Song: Show Yourself (Disney), Songfic, United States of Auradon (Disney), United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 11,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22180945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puck1919/pseuds/puck1919
Summary: As war threatens to tear Auradon apart, Jane is sent to Ahtohallan to try and negotiate with Elsa. But the voice she hears is calling her there for something else entirely.
Relationships: Jane/Carlos de Vil
Series: Step Into Your Power [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605190
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	1. Prologue: Let the Storm Rage On

_20 years ago_

The storm raged over Arendelle and Jane ran through the castle, opening every door she could reach. Lightning flashed and she ran behind a curtain until the thunder clapped and she ran again. She ran into a hall with a large door, with a blue snowflake pattern painted on the panels and blue flowers painted on the frame. She reached for the brass handle, barely able to wrap her fingers around it. The lightning struck again and she grabbed it and ran inside.

An older girl in a blue nightdress saw Jane come in and ran for a pair of gloves on the dresser.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Jane was shaking and almost whimpering. A crack of thunder sent her hiding under the bed.

“Hey! Get out of there!” the girl said.

There was the sound of crashing glass. Jane could see the older girl run to the window. There was a sound of ice cracking as it quickly formed. Jane poked her head out from under the bed and saw the girl putting a glove back on. She looked down at Jane and pulled her out from under the bed, sitting her on the window seat. Jane looked up at the window and noticed one of the glass panes was blue and there was frost all over the rest of them.

“You’re Fairy Godmother’s daughter, aren’t you?” the girl asked.

“I’m Jane.”

The girl nodded. “I’m Elsa.”

The lightning flashed again. Jane flinched. Elsa looked out the window and looked back to Jane.

“I see.”

“I can’t find mama.”

“She’s still in her meeting,” Elsa said.

“Oh…” Jane looked at her feet. “It’s cold outside.”

Elsa nodded. “Yeah, I guess. The cold doesn’t really bother me.”

“You’re the princess?” Jane asked.

“One of them,” Elsa said.

“Mama knows lots of princesses,” Jane said.

“Yes, she does,” Elsa said. “Look, I… you can’t be in here.”

Jane looked out the window. The hail bounced off the glass and the rain poured down.

“It’s storming.”

“…so you can’t sleep.”

Jane nodded. Elsa sighed, sitting down next to her.

“Yeah, Anna never liked storms either,” she said. “And the aurora just kept her awake.”

Jane got up and started walking around the room.

“Now what?” Elsa asked.

Jane climbed into the bed.

“Okay, seriously, you need to go back to your room,” Elsa said.

“It’s quiet here,” Jane said.

“Let me take you back to your room and I’ll help you get to sleep.”

Jane had a death grip on Elsa’s hand, and the glove slipped a few times, but they got back to the guest room quickly.

“All right, get into bed and close your eyes.”

Jane crawled under the covers and put her hands over her eyes. She heard the ice cracking sound again.

“Okay, you can open them.”

Jane opened her eyes and Elsa was sitting at the end of the bed, adjusting her gloves.

“That should make it better,” she said.

“Okay,” Jane said. “Wanna see what I can do?”

Elsa sighed. “Fine.”

Jane pressed her hands together and rubbed them against each other, pulling them into her chest. Then she threw her arms out and a rain of blue sparks came out of her hands.

“It’s shiny!” Jane said.

Elsa’s eyes were wide. “Yeah, yeah it is.”

The lightning flashed silently outside the window and Jane pulled the covers close. Elsa smiled.

“You know, there’s a song my mother would sing to me when it was too stormy to sleep.”

“Yeah?”

Elsa started to sing.

_Where the North Wind meets the sea  
There’s a river, full of memory  
Sleep my darling safe and sound  
For in this river all is found._

_In her waters, deep and true  
Lay the answers and a path for you  
Dive down deep into her sound  
But not too far or you'll be drowned_

Jane nodded off quickly, and Elsa gave a sigh of relief. She left the room quietly and shut the door behind her. She started to walk back to her room, turning the corner and seeing her parents walking down the hall.

“Elsa, is everything okay?” Iduna asked.

“Yes,” Elsa said. “Um, Jane couldn’t sleep because of the storm and she… ah… ran into my room.”

“That’s fine,” Agnarr said. “You did the right thing. Walk with us, I want your opinion on this.”

“Really?” Elsa asked.

“You’re going to be queen someday, you should start thinking about policy,” Agnarr said. “Come.”

They started walking back towards Elsa’s room.

“Auradon makes a very appealing offer,” Agnarr said. “Joint security, a cooperative governing structure, access to trade and resources.”

“What would our responsibilities be?” Elsa asked.

“There’d be a council of royals,” Iduna said. “A small membership fee. And a total ban on magic.”

Elsa stopped and her parents stopped with her.

“What?”

“Anyone who practices or uses magic in any way would have to stop upon their state joining with Auradon,” Agnarr said.

“Anyone?” Elsa asked.

“Anyone.”

Elsa looked back towards Jane’s room. “I see. We can’t… we can’t.”

“Why?” Agnarr said.

“Because…” Elsa sighed. “I know I’m supposed to hide this. If we joined, I’d have to tell them. And I’d have to tell them I can’t control it all the time. Besides, we can’t ask the trolls to just… stop being who they are because we made a decision without talking to them, and we don’t know who or what is out in the Enchanted Forest and who’s to say we won’t be held responsible for that and—”

“Elsa,” Iduna said. “We know all this.”

“Those are our concerns as well,” Agnarr said.

“Yeah,” Elsa said, nodding. “What about Fairy Godmother?”

“It was her idea,” Iduna said.

“We’re not joining, Elsa,” Agnarr said. “But keep an eye out if things change. Perhaps when you are queen, it will be different.”

Elsa said goodnight to her parents and they walked off. Elsa went back to her room and took off her gloves.

 _Yes, she will sing to those who hear,  
_ _And in her song, all magic flows,  
_ _But can you brave what you most fear?  
_ _Can you face what the river knows?_

In her room, Jane stirred in her sleep. Elsa’s magic kept the sound of the storm outside the window she frosted over, and the ice wouldn’t melt until morning. Fairy Godmother looked in for a moment, smiling, and closed the door, satisfied that Jane was asleep.

In her room, Elsa looked out her window at the rain and hail beat at the glass. She touched the frame and frost spiraled out from her fingertips.

 _Where the North Wind meets the sea  
_ _There’s a mother full of memory_  
_Come, my darling, homeward bound_  
_When all is lost, then all is found._


	2. Within These Walls

“Try again.”

Jane screwed up her face, shutting her eyes.

“Zeus,” she said. “Hera. Poseidon. Demeter. Ares and Athena. Apollo and Artemis. Hermes. Aphrodite. Hephaestus. …Hestia?”

“Dionysus,” Fairy Godmother said. “But better this time.”

Jane sighed. “I get that I have to know this stuff. But why can’t you just..?”

“Just keep being Magical Advisor to the crown?” Fairy Godmother asked. “Jane, do you know why Belle and Beast made Ben king when they did?”

“Because he was ready,” Jane said.

“Oh, far from it,” Fairy Godmother said. “I told them to wait until he finished high school, at the least. But they wanted to step down because not many kings or queens have the opportunity to ask for advice from the people who know their job best.”

Jane sighed. “I don’t know a thing about magic. Mal knows more magic than I do.”

“And I’m sure she’ll help,” Fairy Godmother said. “But they asked for you. They want your council.”

Jane shook her head. “I… I don’t know _anything_.”

A gust of wind blew the window open, scattering a few leaves on the floor, and a chill went through the room. A sound like a whisper called out. There were no words, but a voice like a dream. Fairy Godmother went over and shut the window.

“What was that?” Jane asked.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask for that latch to be fixed,” Fairy Godmother said. “Anyways, Jane, you already know so much more than you think. You’re the brightest girl I know, and I’m not saying that because I’m your mother. Ben and Mal say that too. It’s more than your experience, they _trust_ you, like Ben’s parents trusted me. It’s time for your generation to step into power. This is part of that.”

Fairy Godmother put a hand on Jane’s shoulder and smiled. “And you can ask for my advice whenever you want.”

The door opened and Cogsworth stepped in.

“Pardon my intrusion,” he said. “Miss Jane, the king is requesting your presence.”

“Well, that sounds very official,” Fairy Godmother said to Jane. “You better go.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Jane said.

She followed Cogsworth down the hall and paused when he passed Ben’s office.

“Isn’t he..?”

“The council room,” he said.

At the end of the hall, Cogsworth approached a pair of solid mahogany doors with brass handles. He opened the door.

“Thank you,” Jane said quietly. She entered the council room and the door shut behind her.

The room was filled with noise. Uma was yelling at Lonnie, who was arguing back in a very fast Cantonese. Jay and Evie were trying to talk over each other. And Mal was pointing at a map and saying something very quiet to Carlos. Ben was the only one sitting, his head in his hands, his crown off-kilter. The chair to his left was open and Jane took it.

“I see that this is going well,” she said.

“Queen Anna is… _incensed_ ,” Ben said. “For one, she seemed utterly offended that we would even _consider_ an Arendellian connection to the thefts that were marked with the flower of Arendelle. For another, she seemed even more offended when we asked her where her sister was.”

“I’m assuming because you implicated her sister in an act of terrorism,” Jane said.

“…Okay, I’m seeing that now, yeah,” Ben said. “It’s not like I said she _did_ it.”

“Ben, you might want to call the meeting,” she said.

Ben looked around the table and sighed. “Yeah, I should, shouldn’t I? Guys?”

The others got quiet. Mal and Evie sat down.

“I need options,” Ben said.

“…You could kill them,” Uma said.

“No.”

“ _I_ could kill them.”

“ _No_.”

“Let’s _try_ to have a plan that _doesn’t_ involve the assassination of a foreign head of state,” Lonnie said.

“Thank you,” Evie said. “I think we should try talking with them again.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Ben said. “I’m fairly certain that until whatever _is_ going to happen happens, Anna isn’t going to want to talk with any of us.”

“There’s another problem,” Mal said.

“What?” Jane asked.

“I was just explaining to Carlos— Audrey’s disappeared,” she said. “Along with Prince Aziz from Agrabah, Princess Ruby from Corona, and Princess Melody from Atlantica.”

“What do you mean, disappeared?” Jay asked.

“They’re prominent members of their respective royal families and they haven’t appeared at events or even been seen at all in the last ten days,” she said.

The room fell silent.

“Ruby and Melody,” Jane started, “were born with magic. Audrey we know can wield magic with the proper tools. I’d imagine Aziz—”

“Was the one who took my father’s staff,” Jay said.

The room looked to Jay. He shrugged.

“Just because I never pursued it…”

“Jafar is a powerful sorcerer,” Jane said. “And his staff is a dangerous relic to be missing.”

“Audrey has my mother’s staff, I’d guess,” Mal said. “Melody took the Trident. Jane, what about the wand? Do you think Ruby has it?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said. “Ruby’s hair is magic itself. There are very few people who can handle the wand, I doubt she’s one of them. I’m not even one of them— I haven’t even tried since…”

She blushed and looked away. “Well, you all were there.”

“I wasn’t,” Uma said.

“Not now,” Evie said.

“Look, I have to know what’s going on,” Ben said. “These are our friends. People we’ve known for years, people we trust. What happened that they all just… left?”

A gust of wind blew a window open, scattering a few leaves on the floor, and a chill went through the room. A sound was louder now, almost a cry. There were no words, but a voice like a dream. Jane felt like the world was melting away.

_I can hear you, but I won’t…_

Lonnie went over and shut the window.

“Latch must be broken,” she said.

“I’ll have someone look at it,” Ben said. “In the meantime, let’s think of some strategies and meet back in an hour. Jane, Mal, my office.”

A chorus of “Thank you, your majesty” was scattered around the room. Jane and Mal followed Ben to his office. Ben shut the door.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Ben said to Mal.

“It will work,” she said.

“Yes, because it’s worked out so well before,” Ben said.

“What will work?” Jane asked.

“Jane, can you please tell my wife that sending in a _spy_ is not going to work?” Ben said. “That sending _her_ won’t work?”

“I mean—” she turned to Mal “—it didn’t really work for either of your parents.”

“I am not my parents!” she objected. “I can do this, we need to know what they’re planning.”

“I’m not sending you into danger,” Ben said. “And you heard what Anna said—this is _exactly_ the sort of thing we don’t need right now.”

“What about Evie, then?” Mal asked “She gets the mirror, she can contact any of us—”

“ _If_ we are considering this—” Jane started.

“We’re not considering it!” Ben said.

“But if we do,” she said. “It can’t be one of the VKs. And you know that.”

Ben sighed, leaning on his desk. “Yeah, I know.”

“What do you mean, ‘you know’?” Mal said. “Who would be better?”

A gust of wind blew a window open, scattering a few leaves on the floor, and a chill went through the room. The sound was even louder now, emphatic and forceful. There were no words, but a voice like a dream. Jane turned away as Mal went to shut the window.

“That’s the third time…” Jane muttered.

“Sorry?” Ben asked.

She looked at him. “That’s the third time I’ve been in a room where the window’s been blown open.”

“Maybe we just need new windows—”

“Ben, you need to send me.”

Mal and Ben looked at Jane.

“No,” Ben said. “We can find someone else, I need you here.”

“I’m not a VK,” Jane said. “I’m not well practiced in magic, but I have the potential for it. And my mother was the original author of Auradon’s ban. I think they want me there.”

“What makes you say that?” Mal asked.

Jane paused. “It’ll sound crazy.”

“My wife’s a demigod that can turn into a dragon, try me,” Ben said.

“The wind,” Jane said. “I keep hearing a voice from the wind. Coming from the north.”

“From Arendelle,” Ben said.

“Elsa,” Mal said.

“Have you—?”

“No,” Mal said. “But I believe you.”

“Give us the rest of the hour,” Ben said. “I want you to think about this, _really_ think about it, before we make any decisions.”

Jane nodded. “Okay. But you know I’m right.”

“You’re one of the smartest people we know,” Ben said. “And now I’m going to ask the other. Mal, can you get Evie in here?”

“Sure.”

Mal and Jane left Ben’s office. Jane started to walk away.

“Wait.”

Jane turned back to Mal.

“I can’t do this,” Mal said. “I can’t let you do this. It’s too dangerous.”

“Because it’d be any less dangerous if you did it?” Jane asked. “Mal, you know this is the right decision. Evie will say the same thing.”

“He doesn’t need Evie,” Mal said. “Ben… Ben doesn’t like having me around to make these decisions.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t let him talk his way out of it,” Mal said. “If he can find another way, he’ll take that option. He needs to know he has no choice.”

Mal headed off towards Evie’s office. Jane started walking, not sure where she was going. She couldn’t go back to her mother— she wasn’t sure she wanted to ask her about this. She led herself up the stairs of the west wing, into an old, unused bedroom. By the door to the balcony was a table with an empty bell jar. Jane walked over to it and leaned on the table. The wind blew the balcony doors open and she didn’t even flinch.

 _I can hear you, but I won’t.  
_ _Some look for trouble.  
_ _Well, others don’t.  
_ _There’s a thousand reasons I should go about my day,  
_ _And ignore your whispers, that I wish would go away._

Jane walked over to the doors, but hesitated, not sure she wanted to close them.

 _You’re not a voice.  
_ _You’re just a ringing in my ear.  
_ _And if I heard you—which I don’t—  
_ _I’m spoken for, I fear.  
_ _Everyone I’ve ever loved is here within these walls.  
_ _I’m sorry, secret siren, but I’m blocking out your calls._

 _I’ve had my adventure, I don’t need something new,  
_ _I’m afraid of what I’m risking if I follow you—_

“There you are.”

Jane turned around.

“Carlos.”

He rushed over to her. “Mal just told me. Jane, you can’t—”

“I have to,” she said. “Ben knows I have to, he’s just trying to justify it to himself.”

Carlos looked around the room. “Why come here?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said, walking out to the balcony. “I needed to think. I needed space.”

Carlos walked out with her and leaned against the railing. “Well, this looks like a pretty good place to think.”

Jane nodded.

 _Or are you someone out there, who’s a little bit like me?  
_ _Who knows deep down—I’m not where I’m meant to be?_

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Carlos said. “Of _course_ you belong here.”

“I don’t know, Carlos,” she said. “I mean—yes, Ben and Mal listen to me. But in the contest between the two of us, Evie is beyond smarter than me. Mal knows way more about magic. Lonnie and Uma are the military strategists. And you and Jay are closer to people from the Isle than any of the rest of us at this point. Why am I here? What can I offer to them?”

Carlos paused. “You offered to go to Arendelle.”

Jane sighed. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

“Let me go with you,” he said.

“I can’t,” she said. “I wish I could.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I know.”

Carlos put a hand on her waist and kissed her. He sighed.

“Don’t forget this.”

He held up a gold chain necklace with the word ‘Jarlos’ written in cursive. Jane smiled.

“Of course.”

“Ben’s going to want us back soon,” he said.

“I’ll be down in a moment.”

He kissed her again and left the room. She traced the letters of the necklace with her fingers.

 _Every day’s a little harder as I feel my power grow.  
_ _Don’t you know there’s part of me that longs to go…_

_Into the unknown_


	3. In the Light of Day

Fairy Godmother stormed into Ben’s office. Ben stood up and walked towards her.

“ _Listen_ ,” he said.

“Do you even know what you’ve done?” she yelled. “What you’re making her do?”

“Yes,” he said. “I tried to think of something else, _anything_ else, but she can stop this before it starts.”

“Yes, because that never goes badly,” Fairy Godmother said. “Do you even know where she’s going?”

“She’s going to Arendelle,” Ben said.

“No!” she said. “That might be where you sent her, but that’s not where she has to go. Elsa isn’t in the palace, you would have seen here there when you visited.”

“Then where is she?” Ben asked.

“Jane will go north to Ahtohallen,” she said. “That’s where Elsa will be. Waiting for her.”

“You make that sound intentional,” Ben said. “Like Elsa knows Jane is coming.”

“Who else would go?”

Ben paused. “Mal had volunteered.”

“Of course she did,” Fairy Godmother said. “But Jane convinced you it should be her.”

“Mal might know magic better, but—”

“Jane has _no idea_ what her magic can do!” Fairy Godmother said. “And you can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if she did.”

Ben crossed his arms. “I made her Magical Advisor at _your_ recommendation. Not that I wouldn’t have found a position for her if you hadn’t, but what would make you scared of your daughter doing her job?”

She sighed. “It’s not because she’s _my_ daughter. It’s because she’s _his_.”

Ben looked around the room. “Okay. Okay, shut the door. I’m going to call my parents and the _three_ of you are going to explain to me what is going on. _Very_ slowly.”

“Your majesty—”

“Like I know nothing,” Ben said. “Because _obviously_ there’s something you _neglected_ _to mention_.”

* * *

Jane leaned against the rail of Uma’s ship. The air was thick with salt and the spray hit the deck of the ship with every swell. Uma walked over to stand next to Jane

“Harry’s got the course laid in and Gil is at the helm,” she said. “So if we make it to Arendelle without running aground at least once, it will be a minor miracle.”

“They’re good guys,” Jane said. “Well, not _good_ guys, but they’re decent. And they’re smarter than you give them credit for.”

Uma looked up to the quarterdeck. Harry was trying to pull his hook out of the mast it was stuck in and Gil was reading the map upside-down.

“No, they’re dumb as rocks,” Uma said. “But they’re cute, so it’s not hard to keep them around.”

Jane and Uma laughed for a moment.

“So,” Uma continued. “Miss Perfect volunteered for the dangerous spy mission.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking to— certainly not my mother,” Jane said. “But I’m not perfect.”

“You and Lonnie are the only AK’s on Ben’s council,” Uma said. “Lonnie, I get. I disagree with her on pretty much everything, but she’s a good strategist. You… I’m not sure what you’re there for.”

“I’m Magical Advisor to the Crown,” Jane said.

“Mal and I have done more magic in the last three months than you’ve done in the last three years,” Uma said. “Why you?”

Jane sighed. “I don’t know. My mother held the position for a while. I guess… people just assume that I can do what she does.”

“I’ve never done that,” Uma said. “If it helps.”

“Can’t say it does,” Jane said, laughing.

“No, seriously,” Uma said. “Do you know how long it was before I convinced my cousins that I _wasn’t_ my mother?”

“Your cousins being Queen Ariel, Queen Attina, and their sisters?”

“Yep,” Uma said. “Family legacy is… it’s _such_ a thing in Auradon, isn’t it? Even after Mal and the others proved again and again.”

“That’s not wrong,” Jane said. “I suppose it’s partly because of how many royal families there are.”

“Hey, the Isle’s no stranger to royal blood,” Uma said. “My mother, the Evil Queen, the Queen of Hearts, the Horned King—”

“Right, right,” Jane said. “But they were stripped of their status. They had to make their own way on the Isle, and, by extension, you and the other VKs. There’s much less of a pressure to live up to expectations.”

“And more of one to live down to them,” Uma said. “Or do you forget what happened when we first met?”

“It’s not the same,” Jane said.

Uma paused. “No, it’s not.”

“You know where I’m going, right?” Jane said.

“I have a hunch,” Uma said. “Ahtohallen?”

“Well, I’m hoping I won’t have to go that far,” Jane said. “But yeah, just about. Do you know what’s up there?”

“It’s a glacier,” Uma said. “We sailed up there once, we barely got out. That sea is no joke.”

“Again, I’m hoping not to go there,” Jane said. “Because before that is the Enchanted Forest, which is the home of the Northuldra people, where Elsa has been living since she abdicated the throne to become the guardian of the elemental spirits.”

Uma blinked. “Well, that’s a career choice.”

“Yeah, it is, isn’t it,” Jane said. “How long until we get to Arendelle? I imagine we won’t exactly be welcomed.”

“We’re going to stay out of territorial waters until nightfall,” Uma said. “I’ll row you in, set you down somewhere where you can head out on foot. We’ll be out of view of the harbor before sunup.”

Jane sighed. “This is what has to be done.”

“I won’t argue with that,” Uma said. “Let’s just hope you’re up for it.”

Uma walked back to the quarterdeck. Jane looked out to the horizon. The sunlight cast itself on the water, looking like bright flashes on top of the swells. The sky was a perfect, cloudless blue.


	4. Alone and Free

Carlos looked out to the horizon from the tower room of the west wing. He leaned against the balcony, looking at a picture of him and Jane from the last ball. It was a candid—they were dancing together and she was wearing a powder blue dress that he remembered would float around her like a cloud when she spun. He remembered the way her hair fell on her shoulders. The picture had a glint of gold around her neck where the Jarlos necklace rested on her collarbone.

“Carlos.”

He looked back as Ben walked up to stand next to him.

“Sorry, am I not supposed to be up here?” Carlos asked.

“Not really, but it’s fine,” Ben said. “I got it unlocked because I like coming up here to think. My dad… did a lot of thinking in here.”

“Before he met your mom?” Carlos asked.

“Yeah,” Ben said. “I just got out of a meeting with them and Fairy Godmother. It was…”

“Was it about Jane?”

“I can’t say much,” Ben said. “Especially not to you, I’m sorry, it’s—”

“I get it,” Carlos said. “If there was something going on with Mal—”

“She wouldn’t want it to be my business until I needed it to be,” Ben said. “I know my wife, Carlos.”

Carlos nodded. “Jane… said if I came up here, I’d be looking at her. That Ahtohallen is north-west of Auradon. She said, ‘look to the western sky’.”

“It’s that way,” Ben said, pointing towards a spot on the horizon. “She’s not there yet, though. There hasn’t been enough time for her to get there.”

“It’s the thought, really,” Carlos said. “That I’m with her, in some way.”

“Yeah,” Ben said. “Last time Mal was gone…”

Carlos nodded again. “Yeah.”

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon.

* * *

Jane was knee deep in snow as she trudged up the mountain. She pulled the cloak closer around her and leaned on her walking stick as the wind whipped around her. She’d gotten a map from a particularly cheerful shopkeeper and headed north towards the Enchanted Forest. Just past the North Mountain. It was halfway between the entrance to the fjord and the forest, but it was getting dark and there was only one place to go before heading back down the mountain.

The palace stood before her, towering in blue and violet. Jane took off her glove and ran her hand over the stair railing. The ice… wasn’t cold. It felt like solid glass, smooth and strong. Blue sparks started to dance around her fingers. She stepped back and turned away from the stairs. Her magic surged and shot out of her. A woman appeared in a green dress with a long, violet cape trailing out behind her. Her platinum hair was bound up tight as she looked around the mountain. There was a faint blue glow around her— Jane’s magic projecting an image from the past.

“Elsa?” Jane whispered.

_The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,  
_ _Not a footprint to be seen.  
_ _A kingdom of isolation  
And it looks like I’m the queen…_

Jane passed her hand through the image and it shuddered and faded. The voice, like a whisper, like a cry, emphatic and forceful, sailed through the mountain air. Jane turned back around and walked up the stairs.

_I can hear you, but I won’t._

She walked into the main atrium of the palace. The stairs flowed up to join at a balcony above the foyer. She set down her cloak and her walking stick by the door. Jane could feel a knot in her stomach and her magic pressed at her mind.

“What do you want?” she asked. “What are you trying to show me?”

She barely had to lift her hand for images of Anna and Elsa to appear out of the air.

“ _You belong down in Arendelle,_ ” Elsa said.

“ _So do you,_ ” Anna said.

“ _No, Anna, I belong here,_ ” Elsa replied. “ _Alone. Where I can be who I am… without hurting anybody._ ”

“You stole artifacts,” Jane said. “You’re threatening war, both of you are!”

“ _Actually, about that…_ ” Anna said.

The doors burst open.

“ _Wait, what is that?_ ” Elsa asked.

An image of Olaf ran past Jane. “ _Hey, I’m Olaf and I like warm hugs!_ ”

“ _Olaf?_ ”

Jane looked from Elsa to Olaf.

“ _You built me,_ ” Olaf said. “ _Remember that?_ ”

“ _And you’re alive?_ ” Elsa asked.

“ _Um… I think so?_ ”

Elsa looked at her hands as the images faded.

“Wait!” Jane said. “There’s more to it than that!”

Her words echoed off the walls as she was left alone. She made her way up the stairs and Anna’s voice started back up again.

_Please don’t shut me out again.  
_ _Please don’t slam the door.  
_ _You don’t have to keep your distance anymore._

_Cause for the first time in forever,  
_ _I finally understand.  
_ _For the first time in forever,  
_ _We can fix this hand in hand.  
_ _We can head down this mountain together,  
_ _You don’t have to live in fear._  
_Cause for the first time in forever,_  
_I will be right here…_

Jane was in the tower room. Remnants of the fight between Elsa and Hans and the royal guards were scattered around the room. Jane walked to the center and looked around. She put out her hands and turned up her palms. She heard Elsa now, in the back of her mind.

_My power surges through the air into the ground._

The shards of the chandelier started to rise from the floor, reforming panes and patterns.

_My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around._

Jane could feel the floor shimmer as sparks flew off the fixture.

_And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast_

She closed her eyes, letting the magic flow through her, directionless.

_I’m never going back—_

Her eyes snapped open and the flow stopped. She ran to the balcony before the chandelier crashed to the floor. She looked back at the mess.

“No,” she whispered. “No.”

She walked back through the mess. Slipping on a piece of ice, she held out her hand to balance herself. The walking stick flew to her hand from the atrium and she grabbed it, her arm almost vibrating from the impact. Slowly, she let go, stepping back. It floated in midair. She pushed more of her magic in, trying to sense what had happened. The end started to grow and then turn in on itself, changing color. She stopped and looked at what she ended up with.

A broomstick. Floating a yard above the ground.


	5. Where the Angels Used to Be

Audrey sat on guard at the edge of camp, staring into the head of Maleficent’s staff. Images she could barely make out swirled in the large jewel— a bow, a pointed hat, a broom. She had never touched magic before she picked up the staff (she never counted her godmothers, they were useless without their magic) and she still didn’t truly understand it. The power the staff offered her was raw and untampered. But she knew who she was when she held it.

_I never thought of myself as mean…_

The salamander on her knee woke up and blinked at her.

“Sorry, Bruni,” Audrey said. “Just remembering something.”

Bruni jumped up to her shoulder and rubbed his head against her cheek.

“I’m okay,” she said, laughing softly. “I’m okay.”

He looked out into the woods and darted off. Audrey stood up, going after him.

“Bruni!”

She followed the trail of blue and violet fire until it started circling around someone in a black cloak and powder blue dress, clutching a broomstick for dear life, and attached to a familiar face.

“Jane!”

Jane looked at Audrey, wide-eyed.

“Audrey,” she said.

“Bruni, stop, she’s a friend,” Audrey said. The salamander turned around and crawled back over to her, climbing up on her shoulder. Audrey embraced Jane.

“It’s so good to see you!” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” Jane was still looking at Bruni. “I heard a voice.”

Audrey paused. “Yeah, me too.”

“Are the others..?”

“Oh, of course!” Audrey said. “Come on, they’ll be so glad you’re here!”

Audrey pulled Jane back to camp. The wind picked up, scattering leaves.

“What--?”

A girl with braids several yards long jumped down from the branches.

“Ruby!” Jane said.

“Hi, Jane!” Ruby said, hugging her. “I see you’ve met Gail.”

“Gail?”

The wind whipped around the three of them, picking up the leaves.

“Gail,” Ruby said. “The wind spirit.”

“Wind spirit,” Jane said. “Right.”

“Oh, and this is Bruni,” Audrey said, gesturing to him. “The fire spirit.”

“Fire, wind,” Jane said. “Okay.”

“I know this is a lot,” Audrey said. “Are you okay?”

“Well, I just walked here from the coast,” Jane said. “I could really use a rest.”

“Camp’s this way,” Audrey said.

She and Ruby lead her to a collection of huts. Several Northuldra people were walking around the camp, carrying baskets and firewood, running after children. Audrey took Jane over to one of the larger, if slightly sloppy huts.

“We built this when we got here,” Audrey said. “The others helped, but we don’t really have that much experience… doing things.”

A commotion turned their attention to a rider on a worse made completely of water. She came to a stop in front of Audrey and Jane. The rider had jet black hair and intense sea green eyes, and carried the Trident of Atlantica.

“You must be Princess Melody,” Jane said, extending her hand. Melody took it, dismounting.

“I haven’t seen you in ages,” Melody said. “You were what, 12? When I graduated from Auradon Prep?”

“Something like that,” Jane said, smiling.

Melody looked. “What’s with the broom?”

Jane looked at the broom, then back to Melody.

“Just something I picked up,” she said. “Where’s Aziz, I thought he’d be here as well?”

The ground shook and a large stone hand came down from above. Aziz walked down the arm of a stone giant.

“Jane Retlaw, joining the opposition,” Aziz said. “Taking a walk on the wild side.”

“Aziz, give her a break,” Audrey said. “She heard the same thing we did.”

“The voice without a name?” Aziz asked. “Do any of us know what that was? Why no one else heard it?”

“I think we were targeted,” Melody said. “She wants us here.”

“Has anyone actually _seen_ Elsa?” Jane asked.

The others paused.

“No one’s seen her,” Ruby said, her braids making a cloak around her shoulders. “Not since we got here.”

Jane looked around at the others. “So this is it.”

“Yeah,” Aziz said.

Jane nodded. “Okay. I’m going to Ahtohallen.”

She started to walk away. Melody grabbed her arm.

“That’s not gonna happen,” she said. “The Dark Sea is one of the most treacherous bodies of water I’ve ever seen. And you don’t have a way to cross it.”

Jane looked back at her broom. “Yeah. I do.”

“What do you need from her?” Audrey asked. “We can just… we can be here. We can be ourselves here.”

“You guys took that stuff?” Jane said. “Put the flower of Arendelle on the walls? They’re blaming Anna and Elsa. They want to stop what’s going to become a war.”

“We just want to be who we are,” Ruby said. “Magic is a part of us, of all of us. The anti-magic laws… they’re saying that it’s bad to even be this.”

“My mother said it was to teach us how to do things on our own,” Jane said. “To not rely on the easy way out.”

“We can barely build a house,” Aziz said, gesturing to the hut. “And that’s with magic. What was it they were teaching us to do again?”

“And not all of us got ‘How to Rule 101’,” Melody said. “The Lesser Kingdoms’ kids were just told to… not worry about it. How’s the job working out, by the way?”

“I… fine,” Jane said.

“Can’t be _that_ good, or you wouldn’t be here,” Aziz said.

“I heard the voice,” Jane said. “Actually, I’ve been hearing a lot of things.”

“Generally not good,” Audrey said. “What things?”

“Stuff from… Stuff from Elsa’s past,” Jane said. “My magic is being erratic, but it wants me to know something. That something is in Ahtohallen.”

The four looked at each other.

“I can get you as far as the Dark Sea,” Melody said. “But I can’t go any further.”

Jane nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”


	6. Show Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Jane_   
>  **Elsa**   
>  _**Both** _   
> 

Jane stood on the black beach, facing the Dark Sea. She had learned in school that a black sand beach was the result of either nearby volcanic activity, creating basalt fragments, or the sign of a deposit of precious materials. She and Evie had done a project in geology together.

She looked back, towards what she hoped was south. Everyone in Auradon was counting on her. Everyone in the Northuldra village trusted her. She hadn’t lied to any of them.

But she knew she wasn’t there for any of them either.

She turned back to the sea, taking a deep breath. The waves crashed and pulled at the shore. The salt weighed on her tongue and the water _looked_ cold. Swimming wasn’t going to happen, but she’d known that. She mounted her broom and kicked off the ground.

Her flight faltered a bit. She steadied herself, trying to focus on her breathing. Her mother had locked away her own wand, something like a flying broomstick was never going to be around for her to have experience with. She leaned forward and started heading out over the water.

A wave came at her and she pulled up, causing the broom to shoot up another ten feet as she almost lost her grip. She clutched on with her legs and regripped with her hands, pausing a good distance above the break. She leveled off, parallel to the water’s surface. Or where it should have been.

She moved forward again, leaning in deeper and going faster. The wind sped past as another wave, larger, came forward. Jane pulled, turning to ride along the length of the face as the break formed a tube, and pulling out at the shoulder. She was past the breaking point when something appeared at the horizon.

She knew Ahtohallen was a glacier, but facing a river of ice as it slowly carved out a crevasse in the earth stunned her as much as seeing Mal turn into a dragon for the first time. Yes, it was possible. But nothing like she imagined. She almost wanted the voice to call out to her again, to give her a sign that she was going where it wanted her.

_Every inch of me is trembling,  
_ _But not from the cold.  
_ _Something is familiar,  
_ _Like a dream I can reach but not quite hold.  
_ _I can sense you there,  
_ _Like a friend I’ve always known.  
_ _I’m arriving  
_ _And it feels like I am home._

She could hear the voice call out from the glacier.

**I have always been a fortress,  
** **Cold secrets deep inside.  
** **You have secrets too,  
** **But you don’t have to hide.**

Jane called back.

_Show yourself.  
_ _I’m dying to meet you.  
_ _Show yourself.  
_ _It’s your turn.  
_ _Are you the one I’ve been waiting for  
_ _All of my life?  
_ _Show yourself.  
_ _I’m ready to learn._

Jane landed on the entrance to Ahtohallen and the doors swung open, inviting her in. She pulled her cloak in and moved forward.

_I’ve never felt so certain.  
_ _All my life I’ve been torn.  
_ _But I’m here for a reason.  
_ _Could it be the reason I was born?_

_I have always been so different;  
_ _Normal rules did not apply.  
_ _Is this the day?  
_ _Are you the way?  
_ _I finally find out way?_

_Show yourself!  
_ _I’m no longer trembling.  
_ _Here I am,  
_ _I’ve come so far!  
_ _You are the answer I’ve waited for  
_ _All of my life.  
_ _Oh, show yourself.  
_ _Let me see who you are._

Jane entered a large antechamber, with a ceiling like a thousand mirrors domed around her.

_Come to me now.  
_ _Open your door.  
_ _Don’t make me wait  
_ _One moment more.  
_ _Oh, come to me now.  
_ _Open your door.  
_ _Don’t make me wait  
_ _One moment more._

The door on the other side of the room opened and Elsa walked out in a white dress that flowed to the floor and she moved like she floated on the ice.

**Where the North Wind meets the sea,  
** **There’s a river full of memory.  
** **Come, my darling, homeward bound.**

Elsa held out her arms. Jane took her hands.

_I am found!_

**_Show yourself.  
_ ** **Step into your power.  
** **_Grow yourself  
_ ** **_Into something new.  
_ ** **You are the one you’ve been waiting for**  
_All of my life!  
_ **_Oh, show yourself._ **

Jane’s magic surrounded her, circling up from the ground as the trailing sparks fell to the floor. Her shoes turned a ruby red, gaining a two inch heel. Her skirt extended— white, starry lace curling out from the ribbon on her waist that blushed a deep crimson. The dress swelled with a deep royal blue and her cloak shifted around her shoulders, a silver pin shaped like a star fixing the cape in place. Her hair was pulled back and the ends of her curls fell around her shoulders.

Elsa stepped forward.

“Hello, Jane.”


	7. What I Had to Do

Mal hesitated before the door. Was she ready to talk about this? To ask for his help? She hadn’t been queen for that long, she and Ben had put off everything until the Isle situation was settled and it was because of the man on the other side of that door. Because of what he had said to them.

Plus, they never had a close relationship in the first place.

She knocked on the door.

“Yeah?”

She walked into the sitting room, where Hades was idly pacing between the couches. He looked at her.

“I don’t like being summoned,” he said.

“Good to see you too, dad,” Mal said.

“Oh, so this _isn’t_ an official request from the Queen of Auradon?” he asked.

“Dad—”

“In case you all have forgotten, I am a _god_ ,” Hades said. “Which not only means I _outrank_ you, but I also have my own responsibilities that I can’t necessarily drop at a moments notice, on top of the fact that I’m not going to be treated like I’m other people, and—”

“Dad!” Mal shouted. Her breath hitched in her throat. “Dad, I… I just need to…”

Hades’ face fell and he stepped forward. “Mali, what happened?”

“It’s Jane,” she said. “I… I said I could go, but…”

“Ben sent her instead,” he said.

“She’s in danger, I know it,” Mal said. “I should be the one that’s there. _I_ should be there. Not her.”

“I know a lot of dead heroes,” Hades said. “Too many of them died because they didn’t want to put anyone else in danger. You have no idea how much it’s going to break me if that’s how you come to me.”

Mal blinked. “What?”

“Oedipus, Caneaus, Alcon,” he said. “Hell, the only reason the damn Jackson kid hasn’t died yet is—”

“I’m not trying to be a hero,” Mal said.

“Except you are,” Hades said. “And you have been ever since you got here. You desperately want to prove that you’re worthy of just _being here_ , let alone being worthy of that crown, that throne. You found out that you don’t have to be your mother, but you swung wildly to the other side. Damn her, and damn me if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t choose your own path. You don’t _have_ to be anyone.”

“But… if something happens to her,” Mal started, “it’s my fault. Because I sent her there.”

“This isn’t the first time someone has been sent in harm’s way for a kingdom’s cause,” he said. “And it won’t be the last time you send someone to fight for you. I’m Lord of the Dead, Mali. That includes war dead.”

“This isn’t a war yet,” Mal said.

“It will be if she dies,” Hades said. “I do my best for them, you know. A lot of times, they don’t deserve it. But I’d talk to your cousins before I’d talk to me.”

“You think Ares and Athena are going to help us _stop_ a war?” Mal asked.

“I think you didn’t call me here as Lord of the Dead,” Hades said. “But I can’t help you if I’m just supposed to be your father.”

“Can you be?” she asked, her eyes burning. “For a little bit?”

Hades paused, then nodded.

“Yeah. If that’s what you need.”


	8. Once Upon a Tie That Binds

Jane stepped back, looking at her new dress.

“What..? I… I don’t wear stuff like this,” Jane said.

“That’s what I thought when I made my first dress,” Elsa said. “But it feels good, doesn’t it?”

Jane nodded, slowly smiling. “Yeah, yeah it does.”

“I’m so glad you came,” Elsa said. “I’ve been trying to reach out to other magic users, but I haven’t—”

“They’re with the Northuldra,” Jane said. “Ruby, Melody, Aziz, Audrey. They heard you. But they couldn’t cross the Dark Sea.”

Elsa paused.

“How long has it been since you left Ahtohallen?” Jane asked.

“It’s… it’s been a few weeks,” Elsa said.

“What have you been doing?” Jane asked. “Do you have any idea what this is causing?”

“I can see what happens outside,” Elsa said. “Conversations, planning. You told King Ben that I wouldn’t trust Mal, that the others wouldn’t. But I wasn’t calling for her.”

“How do you know what I said?” Jane asked.

“I told you, I can see what’s happening,” Elsa said.

“What is this about, Elsa?” Jane asked. “Why are you calling us?”

“You deserve to know the truth,” Elsa said.

Jane paused, looking back at the doors Elsa had come through.

“What’s in there?” she asked.

Elsa sighed. “Only what you take with you.”

Jane picked up her broom and walked to the doors.

“You won’t need that,” Elsa said.

Jane nodded and took it anyways.

The door closed behind her with a deep thud. The room was dark, but voices echoed in the background, not audible enough to make out words. Shapes formed and collapsed around her. She moved forward, not sure what she was looking for.

“… _my once upon a time_ …”

“… _what’s my name?_...”

“… _never got no love_ …”

“ _I hope you’re happy!_ ”

Her mother’s voice jumped out of the darkness as a young man with dark hair rushed past her. The image of her mother, a good 25 years younger that she was now, followed him.

“ _I hope you’re happy now!_ ” Fairy Godmother yelled. “ _I hope you’re happy how you hurt your cause forever. I hope you think you’re clever!_ ”

The man wheeled around to face her.

“ _I hope_ you’re _happy!_ ” he yelled back. “ _I hope you’re happy too. I hope you’re proud how you would grovel in submission, to feed your own ambition._ ”

 _So though I can’t imagine how,  
_ _I hope you’re happy. Right. Now!_

“ _Fay, I cannot_ believe _you could say those things!_ ” the man said. “ _What could have possibly possessed you to—?_ ”

“ _Were you not listening to Aurora?_ ” she asked. “ _To Snow? To all of those people that were hurt with magic? Sid—_ ”

“ _What about Rapunzel?_ ” Sid asked. “ _Ariel? Jasmine? What about what_ you _did for Cinderella?_ ”

“ _Magic has caused so much pain—_ ”

“ _No,_ evil _has caused pain,_ ” he said. “ _Wicked people doing terrible things_ with _magic. Magic… magic is a tool. A tool that can be abused, yes, but so are armies and no one is asking the king to divest himself of his!_ ”

“ _But look at Flora and her sisters,_ ” Fairy Godmother said. “ _They’re completely useless without magic. They can’t function without it. Do you think I want to raise my daughter—_ ”

“Our _daughter_.”

Jane jumped back and the image froze. Sid’s words echoed through the chamber.

 _Our_ daughter.

Jane stepped towards the image of Sid. He had short, dark hair and a full beard to match. He was a few inches taller than Jane. She looked closer and found that he had the same blue eyes as she did. The father who hadn’t been there, the father she didn’t know…

“You left,” she whispered. “Because of magic.”

She stepped back, letting the scene continue.

“ _She’s my daughter too,_ ” Sid said, shaking his head. “ _My father was right._ ”

Fairy Godmother paused. “ _Right about what?_ ”

“ _Fay…_ ”

“ _Right about what?_ ” she asked. “ _Coming to Auradon? Working for the king? Marrying me?_ ”

Sid glared at her. “ _I have made many mistakes in my life. I will never consider you or Jane to be among them._ ”

“ _But your father was right_ ,” she said. “ _Right about_ what _?_ ”

He sighed. “ _He was right about people being afraid of us. Afraid of magic. That’s all this is. Now that we’ve stopped all of the others, our only enemy left is fear, and that can’t be fought by suppression!_ ”

“ _I want Jane to be able to stand on her own feet_ ,” Fairy Godmother said. “ _To know that she can do anything, even if she doesn’t pursue magic. Don’t you want that for her?_ ”

“ _Of course, I do,_ ” he said. “ _But if she wants to, I want her to be able to pursue magic as well._ ”

The images faded and the echoing voices dissolved.


	9. Ready For This Change

Jane had a white-knuckled grip on her broom and stormed out to the antechamber, where Elsa was still waiting.

“What was that?” Jane demanded. “ _What_ was _that_?”

“Your past,” Elsa said. “Your present. Your future. I don’t know what you saw, I don’t… Ahtohallen only shows us what we need to know.”

“Who was he?” Jane asked, pointing her broom at Elsa. “Who was my father? Why was he fighting for magic?”

“Jane, please put that down,” she said.

“You’re just like him, aren’t you?” Jane said. “Claiming to fight for magic, but not sticking around to actually do anything to change things!”

“I haven’t claimed to fight for anything,” Elsa said. “Jane, _your hand_!”

Jane looked down. Her hand had turned green and it was creeping up her arm. She dropped the broom and the color faded. She stepped back, looking at Elsa.

“What’s happening to me?”

Elsa sighed. “Your father was a sorcerer named Sidney Retlaw. _His_ father was the sorcerer Yen Sid. You’re not just half-fairy, Jane. You’re a witch.”

“I’m a what?”

“A witch, a woman who can use magic,” Elsa said. “Like me.”

Jane paused. “No, I can use magic because my mother is the Fairy Godmother.”

“And your grandfather is the most powerful sorcerer in the world,” Elsa said.

“How do you _know_ that?” Jane asked. “ _I_ didn’t know that.”

“My parents,” Elsa said. “They consulted with Sidney when I was younger about… well, about me.”

“Sidney Retlaw…” Jane said. “Is he alive?”

“I would imagine,” Elsa said. “Even I would have heard if he died.”

“What should I do?” Jane asked.

“I don’t know,” Elsa said. “The next right thing, I guess.”

“My father wanted to keep magic in Auradon,” Jane said. “That’s why he left. That’s why the others left. We need to go to Auradon.”

“What?”

“I need to talk to Mal, she’ll understand,” Jane said.

“Jane, I’m not sure,” Elsa said.

**Limited.  
** **Just look at me,  
** **I’m limited.  
** **And just look at you,  
** **You can do all I couldn’t do.**

Jane looked at Elsa.

_Elsa…_

“You’re just as bad my father,” Jane said. “He could have done something. Changed people’s minds. Instead, he just… left. And you, you’ve locked yourself in here. You’ve given up.”

“I failed,” Elsa said. “I was supposed to be the bridge between magic and the world. I was supposed to bring balance. And I couldn’t. I couldn’t convince Auradon to give up its anti-magic laws. And giving up the crown might have helped with internal issues, but Anna hasn’t been in any better position to negotiate.”

“But you can try again,” Jane said. “Do you know how many times I’ve messed up? I’ve always gotten a second chance. You deserve one too.”

“They’re scared of us, Jane.”

“You can’t fight fear with suppression,” Jane said. “You, of all people, should know that.”

“I’m not sure I could even help,” Elsa said.

“Sure you can,” Jane said. “I _know_ you can.”

_Cause for the first time in forever,  
_ _You don’t have to be afraid.  
_ _We can work this out together.  
_ _We’ll reverse the storm you made.  
_ _Don’t panic,  
_ _We’ll make the sun shine bright.  
_ _We can face this thing together,_  
_For the first time in forever,  
_ _And everything will be all right._

Elsa looked at Jane, gasping a barely audible laugh.

“You said do the next right thing,” Jane said. “I think this is it.”

“Okay,” Elsa said. “I’ll go.”


	10. What Once Was Mine

Ruby sat at the fire at the center of the village. The sun had just set and the last bits of daylight reached through the branches of the birch trees, fluttering with the movement of the leaves. Gail danced around the fire, bringing a chill. Ruby pulled her knees close. She reached over to the log pile with one of her braids and threw another log on the fire.

There was a rustle out in the woods.

“Gail?”

Gail whipped up the leaves around the log pile. Ruby stood.

“Not Gail.”

A cloaked figure in a blue robe approached the fire with a shuffling gait, like he was limping. Ruby got into a defensive stance. The figure removed his hood— revealing an older, handsome face with greying hair and a dark beard. He leaned heavily on his staff.

“My apologies,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. May I sit here?”

Ruby stepped back.

“Sure.”

As he sat down, his right leg didn’t bend. He put his hand under his knee to shift it in front of him. Ruby looked away. The man laughed softly.

“I suppose I should be used to that, but to be frank, I’m not around people much these days,” he said. He tapped his hand on his knee. “Glass leg.”

“Really?” Ruby sat next to him.

“Yep. My—” he sighed “—the person who made it for me, she does her best work in glass. It’s solid, so it’s stable. Chips every now and again.”

Ruby held one of her braids, which wrapped around her arm. “My mother could heal people with her hair. I… I lived in Auradon, so I never learned.”

“If I may, your hair would have come from the same magic as hers, yes?”

He pulled out a small hunting knife. Ruby leaned back.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Just watch.”

He dragged the blade along the thick part of his hand at the base of his thumb. He then wrapped one of her braids around his hand.

_Flower, gleam and glow.  
_ _Let your power shine.  
_ _Make the clock reverse.  
_ _Bring back what once was mine._

A golden light traveled down her braids from the roots.

_Heal what has been hurt.  
_ _Change the fate’s design.  
_ _Save what has been lost._  
_Bring back what once was mine,  
_ _What once was—_

“Ruby?”

Ruby turned to see Jane approaching the fire. Ruby looked back and the man had vanished.

“But…”

“Is everything okay?” Jane asked.

“He was just here…”

“Ruby, listen to me,” Jane said. “I need you to get the others.”

Ruby looked at Jane. “Why?" 

“We’re going back to Auradon.”


	11. Defying Gravity

Ben glared into the empty bell jar, his pale reflection distorted in the curve of the glass. He had a white knuckled grip on the edges of the table. He could only barely hear the door open.

“I don’t think you’re going to win, babe,” Mal said, slowly approaching.

“Mal…”

“The glass doesn’t have eyelids,” she said.

He sighed, leaning back. “Well, you seem to be in a better mood.”

“I talked with my dad,” Mal said. “I… I think he’s right.”

“About what?” He still wasn’t looking at her.

“Getting used to letting other people do things for me,” she said. “About not having to be the hero all the time.”

“What?” He looked up. “Mal, of course you don’t need to be the hero all the time.”

“I just… I’m still not sure if I should be here,” she said, walking over to the balcony. “Uma, Audrey, now this… it’s hard not to think that I don’t deserve it.”

Ben walked over to her and put a hand on her waist. “Mal…”

“But I can’t do it if I’m still using magic,” she said.

He blinked. “I—”

“It’s not fair to the rest of the country,” she said. “And I don’t need it. I never had it on the Isle, and I can live without it now. I… I need to be able to set an example.”

“Mal,” Ben said. “I’ve actually been thinking about—”

Carlos ran into the room. “Jane’s back!”

They looked at him.

“Already?” Ben asked.

Jane stood at the center of the throne room, broom in hand. Ben and Mal rushed in.

“How did it go?” Ben asked. “Were you able to talk with her?”

“I was,” Jane said. “And I think you need to hear what we have to say.”

Ben paused. “We?”

“I didn’t come back alone,” Jane said.

The doors burst open and Melody and Ruby rode in on the Nokk, with Gail following. A stone fist crashed through the ceiling, bringing Aziz, Audrey, and Bruni.

“You need to bring back magic,” Jane said. “That’s the only way to stop this.”

“Jane, no,” Mal said. “The law is there for a reason.”

“A reason that doesn’t exist anymore,” Jane said. “If we couldn’t repeal laws that didn’t work anymore, you wouldn’t even be here.”

“Jane,” Ben said, stepping forward. “That was out of line.”

Jane pointed her broom at Ben. “My father fought to keep magic in Auradon, and he was right to do it.”

“Your father _left_ , Jane,” Ben said. “He couldn’t handle change and he left. You’re going to repeat the same cycle if you don’t _stand down_.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Jane said. “Bruni!”

Bruni jumped up and ran around the room, a trail of violet flames encircling the room. Fairy Godmother ran into the room.

“I heard a crash—Jane!” She jumped back. “What are you doing?”

“I’m finishing what my father started,” she said.

“This isn’t like you!” Mal said.

“Actually, it is.”

The flames parted for Elsa to walk in and put her hand on Jane’s shoulder.

“I didn’t ask for them to break away from you,” Elsa said. “I just wanted to talk with them. I thought that now that things had changed, it would help. Then I heard them—and it’s gotten worse, hasn’t it? They wouldn’t have left if it hadn’t. They wouldn’t have _seceded_ if it hadn’t. Your own queen openly practices magic, but your laws remain in place.”

“The laws are there for a reason, Elsa,” Fairy Godmother said. “Too many people have been hurt by magic.”

“Don’t try and justify this,” Jane said. “You don’t know what you’ve done! You wanted us to stand on our own two feet, be able to do things without magic?”

Her hand’s grip on her broom turned green, creeping up her arm again.

“Well, congratulations, now none of us can do anything! What did you teach me that helped me when I thought magic was the only way to feel beautiful? What did you teach me that helped me when Audrey cast the sleeping spell? What did you teach us that could have helped us survive in the Northern Woods?”

The green moved up her neck, taking over her face.

“You cut off something that could have helped so many of us find our place in this world! Told us it was too dangerous and locked it away, like that has ever worked! What did you think would happen?”

“Jane,” Mal said, stepping forward. “Listen to me. Just… we’re sorry. But this is how it has to be.”

“No, it’s not.”

_Something has changed within me.  
_ _Something is not the same.  
I’m through with playing by  
The rules of someone else’s game.  
Too late for second guessing,  
_ _Too late to go back to sleep.  
_ _It’s time to trust my instincts,  
_ _Close my eyes  
_ _And leap._

_It’s time to try defying gravity.  
_ _I think I’ll try defying gravity.  
_ _And you can’t pull me down._

“ _Can’t I make you understand_ ,” Mal said. “ _You’re having delusions of grandeur_.”

Jane’s cloak swept behind her as she walked.

_I’m through accepting limits  
_ _Cause someone said they’re so.  
_ _Some things I cannot change  
_ _But ‘till I try I’ll never know!  
Too long I’ve been afraid of  
_ _Losing love, I guess I lost!_

She pointed at Fairy Godmother.

_Well, if that’s love,  
_ _It comes at much too high a cost!_

_I’d sooner buy defying gravity!  
_ _Kiss me goodbye, I’m defying gravity,  
_ _And you can’t pull me down!_

She turned back to Mal.

“Mal,” she said. “Come with us. Think of what we can do. Together.”

_Unlimited.  
_ _Together we’re unlimited.  
_ _Together we’ll be the greatest team there’s ever been.  
_ _Listen:  
_ _Dreams the way we plan them.  
_ _If we work in tandem.  
_ _There’s no fight we cannot win—_

_Just you and I defying gravity.  
_ _With you and I defying gravity!  
_ _They’ll never bring us down._

Mal was silent, and she backed away.

“Jane, I can’t do this,” she said. “This is my fault, and I have to stop it. I can’t get rid of a law just because I don’t know how to follow it.”

Jane shook her head. “I can’t believe you. I really thought you would understand.”

She mounted her broom.

_I hope you’re happy in the end.  
I hope you’re happy…  
My friend._

The palace guards finally arrived, lead by Carlos.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

The guards aimed at Elsa. She waved her arm and a wall of ice grew up in front of her.

“It’s not her,” Jane said. “She has nothing to do with this. It’s me you want. It’s me!”

_So if you care to find me,  
_ _Look to the western sky!  
_ _As someone told me lately  
_ _Everyone deserves a chance to fly!  
_ _And if I’m flying solo,  
_ _At least I’m flying free!  
_ _To those who’d ground me,  
_ _Take a message back from me:_

_Tell them how I am defying gravity!  
_ _I’m flying high, defying gravity!  
_ _And soon I’ll match them in renown._

_And nobody  
_ _In Auradon,  
_ _No mage or fay that is or was,  
_ _Is ever gonna bring_  
_Me  
_ _Down!_

A guard fired at her, knocking her off her broom. Her magic burst out of her in glass shards, shooting out around the room and her skin was shocked back to white.

And she fell.


	12. It Starts With You and Me

Jane landed on a pile of snow and rolled to the floor. Elsa and Audrey helped her up.

“I’ve got you,” Elsa said. “I’ve got you.”

“My head…” Jane muttered. She felt her necklace fall off and she picked it up off the ground. The clasp had broken.

“Yeah, getting drunk on power can give you a hangover,” Audrey said. She pulled a shard of glass out of her arm.

“You’re hurt,” Jane said. “Is anyone else..?”

She looked around. Glass was scattered across the room, sticking out of the ground like spikes. Aziz had scrapes all over his arm. Melody was picking glass out of her hand. Then she saw Mal rushing over to Carlos, who had collapsed. Jane ran over and skidded on the floor.

She couldn’t process what she was seeing. Some of the leather had always been red, but not this much, and it was spreading. It didn’t help that her eyes were burning and her vision was getting blurry and she couldn’t _breathe—_

“Carlos,” she said. “No, no, I… I… No…”

Ruby knelt down next to her.

“I think I can help,” she said.

Her braids gathered around the wound, the ends turning red.

_Flower, gleam and glow.  
_ _Let your power shine.  
_ _Make the clock reverse.  
_ _Bring back what once was mine._

A golden light traveled down her braids from the roots.

_Heal what has been hurt.  
_ _Change the fate’s design.  
_ _Save what has been lost._  
_Bring back what once was mine,  
_ _What once was mine._

She leaned back and Carlos gasped for air.

“Jane?” he whispered.

“I’m here,” she said. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean for this.”

“Jane, I’m right here,” he said, taking her hand. “It’s okay.”

She collapsed into his chest, sobbing. Mal looked at Ruby.

“He’ll be okay,” Ruby said.

Carlos sat up, holding Jane close. Ben came over.

“Jane?”

She looked up at him and attempted to compose herself. Ben held out his hand and helped her up.

“Jane.” He looked over to Elsa. “Your majesty. I can’t let this keep happening. It seems every time we turn around there’s someone else who gets hurt because Auradon has been… inflexible. I’m stopping this, right now. Before anyone else gets hurt.”

“What do you mean?” Elsa asked.

“By the end of the week, Auradon will have removed the ban on magic,” he said. “I will personally oversee the establishment of an educational facility for anyone who wishes to learn magic.”

“Ben,” Fairy Godmother said, stepping forward. “Are you certain?”

“I am,” he said. “The reason magic was banned in the first place was because people were afraid. Fear is our enemy. The only way to fight it is with acceptance and understanding.”

He looked over to Carlos, being helped to his feet by Ruby and Mal.

“And love.”

He looked back to Jane, who was looking to the floor, cringing with the expectation of retribution.

“And who are we if we can’t learn from our mistakes?” he asked.

Jane looked up at him and opened her mouth to say something, but when she couldn’t find the words, she jumped up and embraced Ben.

“Thank you,” she said. “I… thank you.”

He held her shoulders. “I’ve known you a long time, Jane. That wasn’t you.”

“I wish I could agree with you,” she said. “But I’ve never really been my father’s daughter. I don’t know how to control this, so I think there’s a few more things I have to learn.”

“What about the others?” Elsa asked.

Ben looked to Aziz, Audrey, and Melody.

“All of you are welcome back, if you want,” Ben said.

“Thank you,” Audrey said.

“Sure,” Aziz said.

Melody nodded. “I’ll have to talk with Aunt Attina.”

Carlos walked over to Jane. “Are you okay now?”

Jane opened her hand, revealing the necklace. “I’m afraid I broke it.”

Carlos took a stray thread from where his shirt had been torn and tied each end to the two halves of the clasp. He put the necklace back on her, his fingers tracing over the letters.

“It’s nothing we can’t fix,” he said, smiling.


	13. Epilogue: My Feet on the Ground

_This love, it is a distant star  
_ _Guiding us home from wherever we are.  
_ _This love, it is a burning sun  
_ _Shining a light on the things that we’ve done._

Jane looked out from the balcony of the west wing. The sunset splashed orange across the water, with streaks of violet clouds in the sky. She traced the letters on her necklace with her fingers. Fairy Godmother came up next to her.

“I hear Elsa is going back to Arendelle,” she said.

“She leaves in the morning,” Jane said. “But she wants to travel by land. She said she’s never seen Auradon.”

Fairy Godmother smiled. “That sounds wonderful, dear.”

The wind passed between them.

“I’m sorry,” Jane said. “For leaving. For not talking to you first.”

“You were doing your job,” Fairy Godmother said. “I should have prepared you better.”

_I try to speak to you everyday._  
_But each word we spoke, the wind blew away._

“Why don’t we ever talk about my father?” Jane asked.

Fairy Godmother sighed. “Because when he left… it hurt more than anything else he could have done.”

“Was Ben right?” Jane asked. “That he couldn’t change?”

“From… a certain point of view, that’s true,” she said. “But I was just as stubborn as him.”

_How did we let it come to this?  
What we just tasted we somehow still miss._

“I saw you arguing,” Jane said. “In Ahtohallen.”

“I thought you might,” Fairy Godmother said. “I… I wanted to do what I thought was best.”

“Just because something is easier, doesn’t mean it’s better,” Jane said.

“I know,” she said. “Jane, you have to understand, neither of us were wrong. A lot of people have been hurt by magic. Including you now. But your father was right when he said we can’t fight fear with suppression.”

“It took years for us to not be afraid of magic,” Jane said. “Of Mal and Evie and the others. We had to unlearn that fear. I think there’s some hope in the fact that we did.”

Fairy Godmother nodded.

_How will it feel when this day is done  
And can we keep what we've only begun?_

“Ben asked me to run the new magic school,” Fairy Godmother said.

“Of course,” Jane said.

Fairy Godmother shook her head. “I can’t do it. I haven’t used magic in so long, and my magic is so different from almost everyone else’s. And—” she laughed softly “—on top of everything, I have no idea how to _study_ magic.”

“Mother, you’ve taught me so much,” Jane said.

“No, Jane,” she said. “I’ve taught you facts and history and politics. Actually using magic? It comes so naturally to me, I have no idea how to teach someone who needs discipline how to control their powers. There’s only one person who could have taught you that.”

Jane paused. “Then we’ll go find him.”

Fairy Godmother blinked. “What?”

“We should find my father,” Jane said. “Together.”

_Could these walls come crumbling down?  
I want to feel my feet on the ground,  
And leave behind this prison we share,  
Step into the open air._

“Where would we even start?” she asked.

“Ahtohallen holds all memory,” Jane said. “You taught me that. We trace where he’s gone to find out where he’s going. We could also talk to Yen Sid.”

Fairy Godmother laughed. “Yen Sid wants nothing to do with me.”

“But he’s never met me,” Jane said. “And I’d imagine he’d like to.”

Fairy Godmother looked Jane over. “All right. Let’s go find your father.”

_And now these walls come crumbling down.  
And I can feel my feet on the ground.  
Can we carry this love that we share  
Into the open air?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Credits
> 
> ALL IS FOUND  
> Written by: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez  
> Performed by: Elsa
> 
> INTO THE UNKNOWN  
> Written by: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez  
> Performed by: Jane
> 
> LET IT GO  
> Written by: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez  
> Performed by: Elsa
> 
> FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER  
> Written by: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez  
> Performed by: Anna
> 
> QUEEN OF MEAN  
> Written by: Adam Schmalholz, Thomas Sturges, Tim James, & Antonina Armato  
> Performed by: Audrey
> 
> SHOW YOURSELF  
> Written by: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez  
> Performed by: Jane
> 
> DEFYING GRAVITY (PROLOGUE)  
> Written by: Stephen Schwartz  
> Performed by: Fairy Godmother & Sidney Retlaw
> 
> FOR GOOD (PROLOGUE)  
> Written by: Stephen Schwartz  
> Performed by: Elsa & Jane
> 
> FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER (REPRISE)  
> Written by: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez  
> Performed by: Jane
> 
> HEALING INCANTATION  
> Written by: Glenn Slater & Alan Menken  
> Performed by: Sidney Retlaw
> 
> DEFYING GRAVITY  
> Written by: Stephen Schwartz  
> Performed by: Jane
> 
> HEALING INCANTATION (REPRISE)  
> Written by: Glenn Slater & Alan Menken  
> Performed by: Ruby
> 
> INTO THE OPEN AIR  
> Written by: Mark E. Andrews & Alex Mandel  
> Performed by: Julie Fowlis


End file.
